And not only that – his Grandma Cheryl brought him and they unloaded a tree from her car! It was a Japanese Lilac!!!! I admired those along Main Street in Garner and told him so in passing awhile back. This kid doesn’t forget a thing – he got me one for my birthday! Holy Smokes! I love it!

Look how big it is! We unwrapped it and I took another picture.

So then we went to the house and started baking. When you make an angel food cake with 1-1/2 cups of egg whites, you make a sponge cake with the yolks. (My recipe is from my friend Sherri – thanks so much!)

Here is Reed sifting the flour.

I taught him how to separate the whites and the yolks -he’s such a quick learner. He basically did all the mixing and I lifted the heavy bowls to pour the batter into the pans. He didn’t want frosting so we skipped that step. I sent both cakes home with him. Isn’t this just the cutest picture?

Tonight we met Tom and Becky at the OP in Clear Lake for pizza and our cousin Jill was able to join us. She is home for a family funeral yesterday and we had such a great visit. We laughed and laughed -you can tell by this picture.

And now for some clarification on this picture from this morning.

On the left is my sister Becky who will be 65 next month. Next is her daughter Jenny who will turn 33 in October and me, 70 years old today.

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51 thoughts on “Another Birthday Post”

What a special friend Reed is and what a sweetheart. You have so much fun with him and he learns so much from you, what a wonderful relationship!! So glad you had such a fabulous birthday – hope you have many more that are just as wonderful! Enjoy your Japanese lilac, they are so pretty now in blossom.

Well, I really put my foot in it! When will I learn!? What goes around comes around. Someone asked me if I was my brother’s mother…. My apologies. Lovely sister, lovely niece, and lovely aunt!!! Your posts are delights. Do we get your cake recipes? I think I would have had to keep the angel food cake for myself. When ever I make one (a 2-step mix) and share it with anybody, I feel deprived!

Beautiful cakes!!! Hope you had at least one piece of cake from somewhere. You are so lucky to have Reed in your life (he’s even more lucky.) I’d love to have a “Reed” in my life.I did have a young girl similar to Reed when I was about 40. They are real treasures.

Happy Happy Birthday. What wonderful gifts and I love those cakes. On your previous post about the cats, we are voting in an online poll about picking up feral cat, spaying or neutering and then releasing back to their colonies. Studies seem to show that a male cat will keep his colony under control Not sure about that, but it’s better than taking to the shelter and them being euthanized.

My computer is so messed up I hope you get this. Happy Birthday!!! Those are great gifts. That Reed sure is a sweet boy. I never knew what to do with the yolks after using loads of egg whites….thank you for telling us. Glad you were able to relax with friends and enjoy pizza. My motto is when it’s your birthday you get to celebrate all month. Have a blessed day. Patty Mc

Happy Birthday! Love your blog and you are always smiling! I love lilacs. One of the worst spankings I got as a small child was over lilacs. We were visiting my aunt Gert and I picked her a “flowerpot” of lilacs. When I presented them in front of my mother-she reminded me that the lilac bushes belonged to the neighbor and had I asked her permission? Needless to say I had not and I had pruned them pretty badly breaking all the limbs I could reach.
Gorgeous cakes and where did you find a square tube pan?

What a special day you had. The tree is a perfect gift to remember all the special times Reed has enjoyed your time learning on the farm together. He’s one all American kid and those cakes looked like they would win blue ribbons at the fair. Ending the day with pizza and family just doesn’t get any better.

What a great day you had, topped off with pizza for dinner with your sister and cousin. I love that big healthy Japanese Lilac. Maybe it will bloom next spring and we will see photos of it??
Now on to today…The birthday of our country. I will celebrate with red pie cherry pie. My better half will be excited, as I rarely make pies now.

Happy belated birthday! Reed is a great neighbor and helper. Kids keep us young for sure. I have to admit I’ve never made a sponge cake that I’m aware of. And I’m lazy anymore and make angel food cake from a box mix. It tastes great with fresh strawberries on it.

Happy Birthday! It looks like you had a great time on your birthday. I am always so impressed with Reed and how much he helps you but I am sure he learns so much from you. Everyone should have a Reed in their life.

Happy Birthday Mary!! I was thinking of you yesterday and again today. We drove to a Blue grass festival out in central Pa and to get there we drove past field after field of corn. Many were Amish farms. Today we visited a flea market in another valley with many more fields of corn. PA may not grow as much corn as Iowa but we sure grow a lot. Easpcially in this area